January 29 2014

Leading off our first author event of 2014, the country's preeminent sports economist...

The Sabermetric Revolution with Andrew Zimbalist

From the front office to the family room, sabermetrics has dramatically changed the way baseball players are assessed and valued. Rocketed to popularity by the 2003 bestseller Moneyball and the film of the same name, the use of sabermetrics to analyze player performance has appeared to be a David to the Goliath of systemically advantaged richer teams who could only be toppled by creative statistical analysis. The story has been so compelling that, over the past decade, team after team has integrated statistical analysis into their front offices. But how accurately can crunching numbers quantify a player's ability? Do sabermetrics truly level the playing field for financially disadvantaged teams? How much of the baseball analytic trend is fad and how much fact?

The Sabermetric Revolution sets the record straight on the role of analytics in baseball, correcting common misinterpretations and developing new methods to assess the effectiveness of sabermetrics on team performance. While the conclusion is optimistic, there is also caution that sabermetric insights will be more difficult to come by in the future.

Spend an hour with the country's preeminent sports economist. Listen in to our fascinating Clubhouse discussion with Andrew Zimbalist...